Pictures
from the TRC's efforts to reconcile Washington Moore
The Hearings Officer commenced duty for the
day. Every day since January 7, when the TRC launched its hearings, it has been
his charge to usher in the witnesses. On Tuesday, February 26, he dutifully
announced the first witness of the day in the second day of the TRC Hearings in
Fish town, River Gee
County. The witness emerged from a
room in the back of the hall where he had been waiting out of the public glare.
As if being cheered to move on, he confidently walked over to the witness stand
and received the oath swearing to tell the truth and nothing but the truth,
then recited his name as is requested of all witnesses by the Chair of the TRC
for the record. He was ready to tell his story - his side of the story.
Witness Washington Moore, 34 years of age, youthful and with a likeable
personality was testifying as an alleged perpetrator, accused of participating
in the arrests and subsequent gruesome murders of three of River Gee's
prominent citizens: Richard Watkins, Amos Suah and Amos Nyenoh. Washington
had come some 120 km from his village
of Youbor, to Fish
Town on the day before to watch the
TRC Hearings as it debuted in River Gee when he was implicated by the eighth
witness of the day, Mrs. Martha Watkins. On Monday, March 25, in a heart
wrenching narrative, Mrs. Watkins, the first wife of the murdered Richard Watkins,
informed TRC Commissioners of how her husband and the both Amoses' were
arrested in their homes sometime in mid-April 2003 allegedly by Washington
Moore and five of his (Moore's) colleagues from the Citizens Defense Force
(CDF) and later killed. She said Washington
(in the lead), and party had gone to her house looking for Richard Watkins who
was not at her home at the time but instead at the home of his second wife. According
to Martha Watkins, the men proceeded to the home of the second wife where they
found Watkins and subsequently took him away. Richard Watkins was stripped butt-naked,
tortured and later thrown in jail for few days and then killed. Martha's
testimony was buttressed by that of her brother-in-law, Hilary N. Watkins, who
also testified to the TRC. The Watkins family had sustained heavy loss,
including the abduction and later murder of Oldman Joseph Watkins, Associate
Magistrate, and father of Richard Watkins and Hilary Watkins.
According to Martha, before his death, Richard Watkins made Martha promise that
she would one day explain to the world the story about his innocent death. The
TRC hearings therefore provided Martha with the opportunity to keep her promise
to her husband. According to witnesses, Richard Watkins was a principled minded
person who denounced violence. In April 2003, when news that the fighting force
MODEL was advancing on River Gee, some members of the government troops in the
area headed by Major Paye Suah, demanded that the citizens of River Gee form a
defense force to assist GOL troops fight the rebels. The late Richard Watkins
reportedly called residents of the area and discouraged them from forming the
defense force advising that it was dangerous for the people to form a fighting
force when they knew nothing about war and had no weapons to fight. His actions
were reported to government forces in the area, which led to his arrest and
subsequent murder.
Washington Moore stood in the crowded hearings hall recounting his version of
what happened, displaying a kaleidoscope of emotions. His case is what the TRC
classifies as a "window case" (known case); nearly everybody in Fish
Town had heard about the Watkins'
story. Washington told Commissioners
that he and five others from the CDF had gone to arrest Mr. Richard Watkins,
Amos Suah and Amos Nyenoh on the orders of their then commander Paye Suah. They
arrested the men and took them to River Gbe, the headquarters of their
commanders. Washington said they
never saw the men again and didn't know they were going to be killed either. Washington
insisted he only heard about the men's death through a friend. He named several
individuals whom he alleged were responsible for the killings.As the
accused testified, absolute silence filled the room. Members of the audience hung
on his every word. The victim's two wives-Martha and her mate were also in
attendance to hear Washington's
account. Having been informed previously that the accused would be testifying, Martha
had requested to be present.
At the end of his testimony, Washington
asked Martha for forgiveness. "I am sorry for what happened to Sis Martha
Watkins, I am asking you to please forgive me. I didn't know the men were going
to be killed," he said. The Commission turned the floor over to Martha and she
expressed readiness to forgive the young man, stating that she had forgiven him
but, it was left with God to purge him of his sins. Martha was than invited by
the TRC to the front of the room but away from Washington.
The latter repeated the words of apology to Martha and attempted holding her
feet in contrition, but she prevented him, quoting tradition, that a man will
not hold the feet of a women. That particular gesture of remorse she said, belonged
to the male members of her late husband's family. For her, she had forgiven the
young man. For the first time since the hearings, Martha was able to smile,
"Wherever my husband is, I know he is happy, I have obeyed his wish."
Washington Moore also wore an expression of relief.
Following the exchange, the traditional elders were invited by the TRC to bless
the reconciliation. Paramount Chief Pah Saydee, speaking on behalf of the
chiefs and elders, lauded both parties for reconciling, especially Martha for
her benevolence in forgiving Washington.
He also thanked the TRC for initiating and facilitating the reconciliation and
asked that this method be infused into the Commission's reconciliation process.
Nonetheless, with tradition being observed, the Commissioners had one more task
to perform to escort Washington Moore to his village to finalize the
reconciliation at that level.
Epic Journey to Youbor
The Commissioners and team including River Gee Revenue Judge, Mr. Solo B. Teah,
Statement Taker Thompson Woods and
Washington Moore, set off for Youbor at about 10:50am
with the three locals serving as guards. We were informed that the trip would
be not more than two hours. Instead, it took six hours instead to reach our
destination. Nobody on the team, not even the locals calculated the hardship it
would entail to get to Youbor. First, the road condition was bad and as we got
deeper into the forest, we saw less and less tracks, leaving us to literarily
make our own road. We were informed that the last time a vehicle was on the
road was seven months prior to our visit. We were driving through thick forest,
stopping regularly to clear overhead tree branches for the vehicle and, at
other times, attempting to repair bridges in order to have the car cross. This
was only possible after everyone got out of the pickup and walked across,
leaving the driver to get our vehicle across. On one such occasion, we had to
chop a huge log that fell in the middle of the road, then use the car jack to
lift the log before Commissioners and staff could get it off the road.
Half-way into the journey, we ran into a group of men wearing red clothing who
informed us that the male "mask" was out in the area. We therefore were
confined to our vehicle for more than half an hour until the procession could
pass. When we finally reached Youbor, it was after 5pm. We had traveled approximately 120 kh (75 miles) from
Fish Town passing through several towns in Webbo District including; Sweaken,
Martuaken, Jlatoken, then north to River Gbe Camp, Airfield, and Gbarkleh,
traveling at a speed of approximately 20 kh(12.5 mph) due to bad road
conditions.
Youbor is a picturesque village, a hidden wonder with clay earth and wonderful
skylines. It is situated between the Dugbeh
River from Liberia
and the Cavalla River,
shared by both the Ivory Coast
and Liberia. It
is the second town to the Ivorian border. There is no access by road into the
village. So, we had to use the only means of transport- the canoe. However, we
were motivated to do so when the oldest of the Commissioners on the trip, Sheik
Kafumba Konneh took the lead. The river was black and looked menacing, but we
made it safely across though with some of us silently reciting the 23rd Psalm.
The welcome into Youbor was well worth the pain. We were received with great
honor. The villagers came to meet us spreading wrappers on the ground for us to
walk on amidst much jubilation. They were so pleased to be receiving visitors
from Monrovia especially the TRC.
They had heard of the TRC from Statement Takers who went to the village once
sometime last year but, the villagers never dreamt that Commissioners would
visit their town. The traditional welcome ceremony was held where cola nuts
were chopped into pieces and passed around with pepper and salt. Each person
dipped a piece of nut in the pepper mixture and ate it followed by water in a
cup where everybody took a sip. A white rooster was then presented to us
followed by remarks from the Chiefs of the village and the Chairman of the TRC
on behalf of our delegation.
We decided to kill two birds with one stone. We informed the villagers that we
had brought back their son, Washington Moore to complete his reconciliation
with his people at the same time expressing care and concern about the massacre
of about 316 inhabitants of Youbor in 2003. Witnesses coming to the TRC
hearings in River Gee testified that about 316 villagers from Youbor were
intermittently killed by government militias. The witnesses claimed that some
of the victims were carried from Youbor to River Gbe bridge and were killed
under the bridge, while others were taken to a nearby pathway across the Dugbeh
river where they were killed.
The reconciliation with Washington Moore and his village went well, leaving
everyone especially both sides grateful for the opportunity to reconcile their
differences and once more coexist without fear, suspicion and malice towards
any party. Upon his reacceptance into the community, Washington Moore was left
with much advice from the TRC and Elders for enhancing the peace. For example,
it was suggested that he identify widows, the elderly and those living alone as
a result of having had their families killed and render services to them. He
was also asked to be a role model to the youths of Youbor. Washington's
mother, who also lost her husband in the conflict, was seemingly overjoyed for
the reconciliation. Until the TRC intervened, Washington Moore wore the scarlet
letter in Youbor but, thanks to the commitment of Commissioners and staff to
the implementation of the Commission's mandate, the young man can today move
about his village freely. Having done well in Youbor, we returned to Fish
Town arriving around 11:38 that night barely in time for a
goodnight rest before taking off early in the morning for Zwedru, Grand
Gedeh County
for the next round of hearings.
